Plymouth Fury

In early 1950s Plymouth was a part of Chrysler preferred by older people because of the lower prices and traditional models. It all changed at February Speed Weeks in Daytona in 1956 when the company presented Fury model, the fastest Plymouth built in history.

With high peaked tail fins, everyone was shocked to see this unexpected vehicle to beat favorites Chrysler 300B, Chevrolet Corvette and Ford Thunderbird, setting new speed record at 143.596 miles an hour.

The Fury had hardtop coupe body of the high-line Belvedere with custom white paint on each side. The striking impression was made by a lightning bolt decorations made of gold anodized aluminum lines, as well as on the grill and unique wheel covers.

The special sport suspension, huge brakes, special tires and a front anti-sway bar gave it cool look. Plymouth engineers decided to use 303 cu in polyhead V-8 from a Canadian Chrysler that allowed NASCAR racing class qualification.

High performance image was amplified with a high-performance camshaft, solid valve lifters, domed pistons, a four-barrel carburetor, free-flow dual exhausts and higher compression heads.
The 1956 Fury equipped with powerful V-8 engines and gold styling features was also most expensive Plymouth at the time.

Despite the specialized model price remaining stable at $2,866, the company sold a solid 4,485 units. The special interior matched the vivid color exterior styling, a feature which the general public loved.

Fury was adopted by New York Police Department because the previous Ford squads didn't have the momentum for drug chases of the era, while Plymouth Fury was able to take all the pounding and still run at full speed.
In 1957 all Chrysler models for that year were completely restyled in order to surpass General Motors design domination on the market.

A real race between the stylists began, as they tried to bring in the future of vehicles to the average American consumer. The following year brought the novel Christine, written by Steven King about a diabolical Fury able to repair itself and take revenge upon those who crossed it. The novel proved popular and subsequently in 1983 a horror movie was made based on the same concept.

At the same time Motor Trend compared Plymouth Fury with a 7.7 second run, followed by the Chevrolet Impala in 9.1 seconds, with Ford's Fairlane 500 last in 10.2 seconds. The powerful classic car effect was changing the entire image of Plymouth as a maker of slow, boxy vehicles.

In 1959, Sport Fury became a top model and Plymouth Fury line-up was expanded to sedan, station wagon, hardtop coupe and convertible. Real changes came the next year with the introduction of the Chrysler's new Slant-Six engine, ram induction system and different body construction.

The 225 cu in engine produced 145 horsepower (108 kW) at 4000 rpm. Fury played a major part in Plymouth's sales volume in early 1960s. When designers decided to completely remove popular tailfins in 1961, the model started to lose its influence. Plymouth Fury remains iconic American car which helped to shape automotive history.